1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to kites and, more specifically, to carriers for slidably and releasably carrying articles along the kite string.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Article carriers and, in particular, toy parachute carriers for use with kites are well known. Such devices are used to slidably carry an article, such as a toy parachute, upwardly along the kite string under the influence of wind acting upon the article or parachute. The devices incorporate some type of trip or release mechanism which is used to release the article or parachute from the carrier at an elevation near the kite. The parachute then flows freely down to the ground; while the carrier slides back down the kite string to the user for subsequent re-use.
However, to ensure that the carrier remains on the string while being urged aloft, and to ensure quick and effective release of the article at the desired elevation, the typical prior art kite article carrier has utilized a complex carrier design and release mechanism. This has resulted in a relatively expensive device which has not met wide spread use as a kite accessory.
Further, the release mechanism of the typical prior art article carrier must be reset or manually re-adjusted before the article can be reloaded onto the carrier for subsequent use. This poses a problem since the user is still occupied with flying the kite and does not have free use of both hands to reset the trip mechanism and load the article onto the carrier. In addition, as these types of devices are primarily intended for use by children, easy manipulation of the release mechanism and reloading of the article is essential. However, the manual resetting or re-adjustment of the complex latch mechanism used in prior kite article carriers often is beyond the capability of children. Thus, such devices have not found widespread use.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an article carrier for use with kites which has a simple, non-complex construction for economical cost. It would also be desirable to provide an article carrier for use with kites which is easy to use. Finally, it would be desirable to provide an article carrier for use with kites which requires no manual resetting or re-adjustment to reload the article onto the carrier.